During operation of a turbine system employing a joint high-pressure (HP) and intermediate-pressure (IP) turbine, steam is conventionally extracted at a desired temperature from middle stages of the HP turbine section, where that steam is piped into a packing separating the HP turbine section and the IP turbine section. This extracted steam can be used to cool the packing (also known as an N2 packing) separating the HP turbine section and the IP turbine section. Conventionally, the flow of this extracted steam is controlled by one or more valves, which can be subject to fluctuations in flow that cause wear on the valves and undesirable noise.